Derek Jeter Ends Home Run Drought to Lead Yankees Past Rangers

May 9 (Bloomberg) -- Derek Jeter ended his streaks of 62
games and 259 at-bats without a home run by hitting two of them
in the New York Yankees’ 12-5 win over the Texas Rangers.

The Yankees’ 36-year-old captain, who was the team’s only
regular without a home run this season, led off the fifth inning
yesterday with a line drive that just cleared the fence in
right-center field at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.

It was Jeter’s first home run since Aug. 24 of last season,
when he equaled a career low with 10 home runs. The Yankees
shortstop added another solo shot in the seventh inning to snap
a 4-4 tie.

“All I can ask for is to feel comfortable,” Jeter told
reporters, according to Major League Baseball’s website. “If
you feel comfortable, the hits will come.”

Jeter finished with four hits yesterday, raising his
batting average to .276 from .256. The home run drought was the
second longest of his 17-year MLB career, having gone 311 at-bats without a homer in 1997.

Jeter, whose 2,960 hits rank 30th in baseball history, said
he’s returning to form after trying to eliminate the stride in
his batting stance earlier this season.

“I tried the no-stride thing, and it didn’t work out,”
Jeter said. “It’s pretty difficult to hit when you’re sitting
around trying to think of too many things. Now it’s gotten to
the point where I’m just trying to hit and not think.”

The Yankees had five home runs overall, with Francisco
Cervelli, Curtis Granderson and Mark Teixeira each adding one as
New York took the decider of the three-game series. Cervelli’s
grand slam in the Yankees’ six-run eighth inning was his first
homer of the season.